Systems and methods for microgrid power generation and management

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for coordinating selective activation of a multiplicity of emergency power generation equipment over a predetermined geographic area for distribution and/or storage to supply a microgrid of electrical power for a substantially similar geographic area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is a continuation of and claims priority fromapplication Ser. No. 13/247,944, filed Sep. 28, 2011, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to power generation and management, andmore particularly, to microgrid distributed power generation andmanagement including emergency power generation equipment.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Prior art provides for power generation, generally for methods foroptimizing microgrid function based on predicted or forecasted demand,including systems and methods for optimizing microgrid power usage basedon predictive algorithms of power demand.

By way of example the following are relevant prior art documentsrelating to power management: U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,010 & US Pub. No.20040051387 for Control of small distributed energy resources, assignedto Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, describe and teach amicrosource system for providing power in an isolation mode or in a gridmode that is configured to couple to a power system without modificationof the existing equipment in the power system, wherein the microsourcesystem is configured for use in a microgrid, and wherein the microsourcepower source may be a fuel cell, a microturbine, battery, orphotovoltaic cell.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,983,799 & US Pub. No. 20110118885 for System and methodfor controlling microgrid, assigned on the document faces to GeneralElectric, disclose and teach a system for controlling a microgridincluding microgrid assets, with at least one of the microgrid assetscomprising a different type of electrical generator than an electricalgenerator of another of the microgrid assets; a tieline for coupling themicrogrid to a bulk grid; and a tieline controller for providing tielinecontrol signals to adjust active and reactive power in microgrid assets,and further describes that the electrical generators comprise at leastone renewable energy source.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,834,479 & US Pub. No. 20080278000 for Methods andsystems for intentionally isolating distributed power generationsources, assigned on the document faces to Beacon Power Corporation,disclose and teach a method for operating a mini-grid including one ormore power generation sources and one or more loads connected to a bus.The method includes the steps of: monitoring a condition of the utilitygrid; disconnecting the mini-grid from the utility grid to operate themini-grid independently in response to a power disruption over theutility grid; monitoring at least one of a frequency and a voltage ofpower on the bus; and providing an interconnect device connected to thebus, the interconnect device including at least one of: an energystorage device for absorbing or releasing real power to control thefrequency of the power on the bus, and power quality compensator forabsorbing or releasing reactive power to control the voltage of thepower on the bus.

US Pub. No. 20070040382 for Self-supporting power generation station, byinventor Towada, teaches a scalable microgrid for providing power toareas remote from the existing power grid, wherein the microgridcomprises at least two power pods linked in parallel, and each power podhas at least one micro-turbine fueled by methane gas, and whereinadditional power pods may be added as power needs increase.

By way of example, relevant documents relating to power management andoptimization include: US Pub. No. 20090062969—Hybrid robust predictiveoptimization method of power system dispatch, assigned on the documentto General Electric, and describes a system for controlling andoptimizing operation of a microgrid by integrating power generation,load and storage assets; it also describes a predictive algorithm thatis used to dynamically schedule different assets, the predictivealgorithm optimizes the microgrid operation over a predetermined timehorizon based on predicted future microgrid asset conditions.

US Pub. Nos. 20100179704 & 20110035073—Optimization of microgrid energyuse and distribution, assigned on the document face to IntegralAnalytics, Inc., describes a system for optimization of energy use anddistribution within a microgrid system, including forecasting ofindividualized demand by end-use or individualized demand by locationfor at least one customer or customer location, wherein forecasting ofindividualized demand may include inputs including: load prediction,weather forecast, risk given load uncertainty; customer complianceforecasts, customer probability of override forecasts; time of dayeffects; and day of week effects.

US Pub. No. 20100222934 for System for managing energy at loads, byinventors Iino, et al., teaches an energy management system comprising ademand prediction unit configured to predict demand at a load to whichenergy is supplied and a load adjustment range prediction unit topredict a load adjustment range by using historical data, wherein thesystem is applied to a microgrid capable of performing demand-sidemanagement.

US Pub. Nos. 20110082596 for Real time microgrid power analytics portalfor mission critical power systems; and US Pub. No. 20110082597 forMicrogrid model based automated real time simulation for market basedelectric power system optimization, assigned on the document face toEDSA Micro Corporation, describes a system for real-time modeling ofelectrical system performance of a microgrid electrical system, whereinpredicted data for the electrical system is generating using a virtualsystem model, and the virtual system model is updated based on real-timedata to forecast the cost of operating the microgrid and the reliabilityand availability of the microgrid system.

Furthermore, in relevant art, it is known to describe how energy pricingis integrated into the described forecasting models. By way of exampleof relevant prior art documents, consider the following: US Pub. Nos.20110082596 for Real time microgrid power analytics portal for missioncritical power systems; US Pub. No. 20110082597 for Microgrid modelbased automated real time simulation for market based electric powersystem optimization, assigned on the document faces to EDSA MicroCorporation, teach a system for real-time modeling of electrical systemperformance of a microgrid electrical system, wherein predicted data forthe electrical system is generating using a virtual system model that isupdated based on real-time data to forecast the cost of operating themicrogrid and the reliability and availability of the microgrid system.Furthermore, all transactions between the public electric service on themacrogrid and the microgrid infrastructure are closely monitored, andrate and pricing information for the management of electricity exchangeare also maintained. Closely monitoring this information and updatingthe virtual and real time models accordingly allows the systems andmethods disclosed herein to optimize energy consumption to meet variousobjectives of the microgrid operator, wherein predicted data can be usedto generate market-based pricing predictions based on the performance ofthe components of the electrical system.

US Pub. No. 20080262820 for Real-time predictive systems for intelligentenergy monitoring and management of electrical power networks; and USPub. No. 20090063122 for Real-time stability indexing for intelligentenergy monitoring and management of electrical power network system,assigned to EDSA Micro Corporation, teach the following: the '820publication describes a system for intelligent monitoring and managementof an electrical system including a data acquisition component toacquire real-time data from the electrical system; a power analyticsserver comprising a real-time energy pricing engine connected to autility power pricing data table and configured to generate real-timeutility power pricing data, a virtual system modeling engine to generatepredicted data output for the electrical system, an analytics engineconfigured to monitor the real-time data output and the predicted dataoutput of the electrical system, a machine learning engine configured tostore and process patterns observed from the real-time data output andthe predicted data output and configured to forecast an aspect of theelectrical system. The '122 publication is a continuation-in-part of'820 and also describes a system for intelligent monitoring andmanagement of an electrical system

US Pub. No. 20100198421 for Methods and apparatus for design and controlof multi-port power electronic interface for renewable energy sources,assigned on the document face to Board of Regents, The University ofTexas System, teaches a method for managing energy movement wherein adetermination of whether operational characteristics should be modifiedis based on at least one factor of: a renewable energy generationforecast, an energy consumption forecast, and a substantially real-timeprice of energy, with the application of this method and apparatus in amicrogrid setting.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,873,442 & US Pub. No. 20060206240 for System and methodfor managing and optimizing power use, assigned on the respectivedocument faces to The Energy Authority, Inc., describe an optimizationmethod for the use of utility power including the steps of: initializinga utility power load requirement forecast, an amount of availableutility power, and aggressiveness position for optimizing the use ofavailable power, a utility power schedule; determining an initial poweruse position for a peak load utility power use range and a low loadrange; adjusting the utility power use for real-time transactions,adjusting for utility power storage flexibility, and producing a utilitypower use schedule optimized for use of said utility power in low loadrange and peak load range, wherein the real-time schedule optimizationprovides information on how to adjust the use of resources when updatedload forecasts based on actual load, and market prices change during theday.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,930,070 & US Pub. No. 20100076613 for System, method,and module capable of curtailing energy production within congestivegrid operating environments; and US Pub. No. 20110172835 for System andmethod of curtailing energy production within congestive grid operatingenvironments, assigned on the document face to Kingston Consulting,Inc., describes a method of managing power generation that provides aframework to allow proactive management of alternative energy productionthrough asset monitoring and characterization relative to real-time andanticipated grid conditions, and further describes that the energymanagement system can perform congestion forecasting, energy outputforecasting, proactive curtailments, storage control, dispatch control,real-time pricing, dynamic pricing, or various combinations of features,and a remote monitor and control module that can include on-grid andoff-grid control logic, real-time performance monitoring, meteorologicaldata interface, microgrid or asynchronous transmission capabilities,local performance characterization logic, a control panel, or variouscombinations of features.

US Pub. No. 20110093127—Distributed energy resources manager by inventorKaplan, describes a distributed energy resources manager that connectselectrical assets in an electricity distribution grid with otherinformation processing systems to optimize a flow of electric powerwithin the electricity distribution grid.

Further describes that distributed resources may be utilized to meetsystem-wide needs such as reducing peak consumption, storing excessutility-scale wind or solar power, responding to price signals includingreal-time or critical peak pricing, or supply ancillary grid services.

US Pub. No. 20110071882 for Method and system for intermediate tolong-term forecasting of electric prices and energy demand forintegrated supply-side energy planning, assigned on the document face toInternational Business Machines Corporation, describes a method of priceforecasting in an electrical energy supply network and/or load (energydemand) forecasting of a given consumer of electrical energy, foridentifying the optimal mix of energy hedge and exposure to dayahead/spot market prices for deriving economic benefits in overallenergy expenditure; and further describes modeling using real time priceand day ahead price data and probability distributions.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,480 for Decision support system and method, whichwas assigned on the document face to Air Liquide Large Industries,describes a computer-implemented method for identifying an excess energycapacity in a production supply chain by a supply chain operator, inwhich the supply chain operator also operates at least one powergeneration facility to sustain industrial production by the productionsupply chain, the supply chain operator is capable of consuming andselling electricity produced by the power generation facility; andfurther describes that the forecasted price for electricity during atime period is determined by a forecasting and planning model utilizinghistorical and real-time data, including the real-time commodity pricesfor electricity.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,521 for Energy management system which includeson-site energy supply to inventors Lagod, et al., describes a system formanaging the supply of power to a load that receives power from anelectric grid, including: at least one on-site power generator that iscapable of supplying power to the load independently of the power grid;a controller which processes data relating to at least one factor thatis predictive of the reliability and/or quality of power supplied to theload, and selects the power grid or the on-site generator as a preferredpower source; and a switch which is responsive to the selection of thepreferred power source to connect the load to the selected power source,and further describes that the selection of the preferred power sourcemay be on the basis of relative costs of power supplied via the powergrid and the on-site generator; and the relative costs may include dataregarding operating costs of the on-site generator, the price of fuelconsumed by the on-site generator, and time-of-day pricing (includingreal time pricing) of power supplied via the power grid.

US Pub. No. 20050015283 for Electric-power-generating-facility operationmanagement support system, electric-power-generating-facility operationmanagement support method, and program for executing support method, andprogram for executing operation management support method on computer,assigned on the document face to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, describes anelectric-power-generating-facility operation management support systemfor determining economically-optimal operational conditions based uponreal-time information with regard to the demand for the electric powerand the price thereof as well as information with regard to propertiesof the electric power generating facilities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to power generation and management systemsand methods for microgrid applications, including selective, coordinatedengagement of emergency power generation equipment, such as, by way ofexample and not limitation, generators.

It is an object of this invention to provide systems and methods formicrogrid distributed power generation and management using emergencypower generation equipment that are selectively engaged to provide powersupply for distribution and/or storage.

Accordingly, a broad embodiment of this invention is directed to powergeneration systems and methods that selectively engage and harnessemergency power generation equipment to produce electricity fordistribution over a microgrid and/or for storage until laterdistribution. Furthermore, the present invention includes embodiments insystems and methods for coordinated selective activation of emergencypower generation equipment over a predetermined geographic area fordistribution and/or storage to supply a microgrid of electrical powerfor a substantially similar geographic area.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art after a reading of the following description ofthe preferred embodiment when considered with the drawings, as theysupport the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the central controller illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a networked system and remote servercomputer associated with the systems and methods of the presentinvention illustrated in the other figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings in general, the illustrations are for thepurpose of describing a preferred embodiment of the invention and arenot intended to limit the invention thereto.

The present invention provides methods for power generation andmanagement including the steps of: providing power generation systemsincluding at least one piece of equipment for generating electricalpower located at predetermined, distributed locations for providingemergency back-up power supply for use in situs (on site or on locationof the source of power generation), i.e., without distribution of theelectrical power beyond the locality where it is generated; andselectively activating the power generation equipment to produceelectricity for distribution over a microgrid and/or for storage untillater distribution over the microgrid.

The present invention also provides a system for power generation andmanagement including: a multiplicity of power generation equipmentlocated at predetermined, distributed locations for providing emergencyback-up power supply for use in situs, without distribution of theelectrical power beyond the locality where it is generated; wherein theequipment is selectively activatable, and constructed and configured inconnection with an electrical power microgrid to produce electricity fordistribution over the microgrid and/or for storage until laterdistribution over the microgrid.

Preferably, embodiments of the present invention include systems andmethods for coordinating selective activation of a multiplicity ofemergency power generation equipment over a predetermined geographicarea for distribution and/or storage to supply a microgrid of electricalpower for a substantially similar geographic area.

By way of example but not limitation, the systems and methods of thepresent invention are applied to emergency back-up power generationequipment, specifically gasoline or diesel powered generators, locatedat cellular tower sites. While typically the generators must beactivated at least once per week or so, i.e., for maintenanceactivation, in order to ensure functionality when the emergency powerprovided by the generator is needed, due to electrical grid powerfailure or loss, their activation is arbitrary, and the power generatedduring the maintenance activation is not harnessed or used in any way.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a system illustrating anembodiment of the present invention. Components of the system providefor operation of a microgrid system constructed and configured forautomatically managing electricity generation and releasing by a celltower emergency power backup generator based on predictive modeling ofreal time wholesale energy market price, including at least one powergenerator. Preferably, the at least one power generator includes atleast one electricity generator. More preferably, the present inventionprovides for at least one power generator that is associated with a celltower for the use of emergency backup during electricity blackout.Furthermore, the at least one power generator may include more than onetype of power generator. In one embodiment of the present invention theat least one power generator is selected from the group consisting ofsolar arrays, natural gas generators, propane generators, dieselgenerators, and combinations thereof. In another embodiment, the atleast one power generator includes at least two different types of powergenerating equipment, selected from the group consisting of solararrays, natural gas generators, propane generators, diesel generators,and combinations thereof. The present invention is constructed andconfigured to generate electricity for immediate supply through directconnection into a microgrid electrical distribution system.Additionally, in preferred embodiments, the system of the presentinvention further includes at least one energy storage mechanism ordevice for providing temporary power storage, for selectivelydischarging electricity into a microgrid.

For optimization of management of power generation and distribution viathe systems and methods of the present invention, in addition to theforegoing, the system further includes the components of a PriceResource Management System (PRMS), including:

a monitoring device that tracks real time wholesale energy market price;

a database for storing wholesale energy market price;

an analyzing device for storing and analyzing wholesale market pricedata, and on a per power storage device basis, data indicative of theelectricity remaining in that specific device;

at least one server computer, located centrally or distributed over anetwork, the at least one server computer in network communication formonitoring and being responsive to the market price fluctuationanalysis, and operable for generating event instructions to acontrollable device for releasing electrical power to the power grid fordistribution when the market price is at least at a predetermined and/orprogrammable threshold(s) at which point the power generated is directedto be released and sold to the power grid (note that the power may begenerated directly for immediate distribution or for temporary storagebefore distribution);

a device interface for facilitating and producing communication of powerreleasing instructions to at lease one controllable device on powerstorage device;

at lease one controllable device associated with and preferablyconnected to the at least one power generator and/or electricity storagedevice, wherein each controllable device is operable for selectivelyenabling and disabling the flow of electric power from the electricstorage to an electric grid, preferably a microgrid, for distributionthereon (public).

In preferred embodiments of the systems and methods of the presentinvention, the PRMS stores, monitors and analyzes the real timewholesale energy market price for use with predictive modeling foroptimized power generation timing, management, storage, and distributionto a microgrid. By using predictive modeling, when wholesale energymarket price reaches a predetermined threshold, the PRMS generatesinstructions to the at least one controllable device associated witheach power generator and/or electricity storage device to release andsell power to public power grids.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of theinvention. Steps of managing power generation and distribution for amicrogrid are shown, including providing a power generation systemincluding at least one piece of equipment for generating electricalpower located at predetermined, distributed locations for providingemergency back-up power supply for use at the locations of powergeneration, without distribution of the electrical power beyond thelocality where it is generated; and selectively activating the powergeneration equipment to produce electricity for distribution over amicrogrid and/or for storage until later distribution over themicrogrid.

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of the central controller illustrated inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a networked system and remote servercomputer associated with the systems and methods of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a basic schematic of some of thekey components of the system including remote server computer andnetwork access to the microgrid distributed power generation equipment,according to the present invention are shown. The system 100 comprises aserver 110 with a processing unit 111. The server 110 is constructed,configured and coupled to enable communication over a network 150. Theserver provides for user interconnection with the server over thenetwork using a personal computer (PC) 140 positioned remotely from theserver. Furthermore, the system is operable for a multiplicity of remotepersonal computers or terminals 160, 170. For example, in aclient/server architecture, as shown. Alternatively, a user mayinterconnect through the network 150 using a user device such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA), mobile communication device, such asby way of example and not limitation, a mobile phone, a cell phone,smart phone, laptop computer, netbook, a terminal, or any othercomputing device suitable for network connection. Also, alternativearchitectures may be used instead of the client/server architecture. Forexample, a PC network, or other suitable architecture may be used. Thenetwork 150 may be the Internet, an intranet, or any other networksuitable for searching, obtaining, and/or using information and/orcommunications. The system of the present invention further includes anoperating system 112 installed and running on the server 110, enablingserver 110 to communicate through network 150 with the remote,distributed devices, including controller, monitoring device, powergeneration equipment, and combinations thereof. The operating system maybe any operating system known in the art that is suitable for networkcommunication.

From a microgrid supply described hereinabove, the power may be furtherdistributed over a wider power grid. For the purposes of thisapplication, the ability to provide power generation creates a microgridon site with the power generation equipment; surplus generation may befurther distributed beyond the immediate location of the powergeneration, i.e., beyond the microgrid created thereby, to a broaderelectrical power grid, a primary grid, and the like, wherein theelectricity supplied thereto is provided by a variety of sources (e.g.,an energy company).

Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled inthe art upon a reading of the foregoing description. By way of exampleand not limitation, systems and methods of the present invention forproviding microgrid distributed power system from power generators maysupply the power directly into a mictrogrid or may temporarily store thepower generated in energy storage mechanisms or apparatus, such as apower cell or battery, wherein the storage is intended to be released atand for at least one predetermined time into the grid, such as peak gridload times, or high energy demand times, or at times that are calculatedbased upon energy distribution optimization considerations. Also, thepresent invention systems and methods provide for curtailmentapplications wherein if the power goes out to the grid, and theemergency back-up power generation has registered with the power companyor management entity, then every time the emergency power is generated,then the system provides for automatic credit for that period ofself-supplied or self-generated power even where that power is notdistributed over the broader grid.

The above-mentioned examples are provided to serve the purpose ofclarifying the aspects of the invention and it will be apparent to oneskilled in the art that they do not serve to limit the scope of theinvention. All modifications and improvements have been deleted hereinfor the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within thescope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for power generation and management,comprising: providing a central controller and a distributed powergeneration system for providing emergency back-up power supply for amicrogrid; wherein the distributed power generation system comprises atleast two types of equipment for providing electric power; wherein thecentral controller is a Price Resource Management System (PRMS); whereinthe PRMS comprises a monitor device, a database, an analyzing device, atleast one server computer, a device interface, and at least twocontrollable devices; wherein each of the at least two controllabledevices is connected to each of the at least two types of equipment forproviding electric power respectively; communicatively connecting thedistributed power generation system with the central controller; themonitor device tracking wholesale energy market price in real time; thedatabase storing the wholesale energy market price; the analyzing deviceanalyzing the wholesale energy market price based on predictivemodeling; the at least one server computer generating power instructionswhen a predetermined threshold market price is reached based on thepredictive modeling of the wholesale energy market price; the deviceinterface facilitating and producing communication of power instructionsto at least one of the at least two controllable devices; the centralcontroller optimizing power generation timing, management, storage anddistribution to the microgrid; the central controller coordinatingselective activation of the at least two types of equipment forproviding electric power; and the at least two controllable devicesenabling or disabling power flow from at least one of the at least twotypes of equipment for providing electric power.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising the analyzing device analyzing data indicative ofelectricity remaining on a per power storage device basis; wherein theat least two types of equipment for providing electric power comprise atleast one power storage device.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the central controller collecting data including localmicrogrid metering information, user interface information, microgridresource and commercial information, microgrid island condition alarm,critical alarm signals from utility, commercial and resource informationfrom the markets and utility, and regulatory and environmental data. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising the central controllerselectively activating the at least two types of equipment for providingpower to supply power to the microgrid when the public power gridexperiences high demand for power supply.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least two types of equipment for providing electric powercomprise at least one power generator and at least one energy storagedevice.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two types ofequipment for providing electric power comprise at least two differenttypes of power generators selected from the group consisting of solararrays, natural gas generators, propane generators, diesel generators,and combinations thereof.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at leasttwo types of equipment for providing electric power are operable toprovide electric power only within the microgrid.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the at least two types of equipment for providing electricpower are operable to sell electric power to the public power grid.
 9. Asystem for power generation and management, comprising: a centralcontroller and a distributed power generation system; wherein thedistributed power generation system comprises at least two types ofequipment for providing emergency back-up power to a microgrid; whereinthe central controller is communicatively connected to the distributedpower generation system; wherein the central controller is a PriceResource Management System (PRMS); wherein the PRMS comprises a monitordevice, a database, an analyzing device, at least one server computer, adevice interface, and at least two controllable devices; wherein themonitor device is operable to track wholesale energy market price inreal time; the database is operable to store the wholesale energy marketprice; the analyzing device is operable to analyze the wholesale energymarket price based on predictive modeling; the at least one servercomputer is operable to generate power instructions when a predeterminedthreshold market price is reached based on the predictive modeling ofthe wholesale energy market price; the device interface is operable tofacilitate and produce communication of power instructions to at leastone of the at least two controllable devices; and the at least twocontrollable devices are operable to enable or disable power flow fromthe at least two types of equipment for providing emergency back-uppower to the microgrid respectively; wherein the central controller isoperable to optimize power generation timing, management, storage anddistribution to the microgrid; and coordinate selective activation ofthe at least two types of equipment for providing emergency back-uppower to the microgrid.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at leasttwo types of equipment for providing emergency back-up power to themicrogrid comprise at least one power storage device; wherein theanalyzing device is further operable to analyze data indicative ofelectricity remaining in power storage devices on a per power storagedevice basis.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the central controlleris operable to collect data including local microgrid meteringinformation, user interface information, microgrid resource andcommercial information, microgrid island condition alarm, critical alarmsignals from utility, commercial and resource information from themarkets and utility, and regulatory and environmental data.
 12. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the at least two types of equipment forproviding emergency back-up power to the microgrid comprise at least onepower generator and the at least one energy storage device.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the at least two types of equipment forproviding emergency back-up power to the microgrid comprise at least twodifferent types of power generators selected from the group consistingof solar arrays, natural gas generators, propane generators, dieselgenerators, and combinations thereof.
 14. The system of claim 9, whereinthe at least two types of equipment for providing emergency back-uppower to the microgrid are operable to provide electric power onlywithin the microgrid.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein the at leasttwo types of equipment for providing emergency back-up power to themicrogrid are operable to sell electric power to the public power grid.16. The system of claim 9, wherein selective action of the at least twotypes of equipment for providing emergency back-up power to themicrogrid is on a regular basis selected from the group consisting of atleast once per day and at least once per month.